Village E3: Survival of the Human Spirit (11 page)

Placing the fish-catching mat on the
shore, they each carried a fish to the edge of the water. John took the knife,
and cut open the largest one, and then handed the knife to Hailey. She cut open
the fish she held and passed the knife to Katie. Neither of the women had ever
cleaned a fish before waking up on the beach, but now they were very good at it
and didn't even give it a second thought.

In very little time, they had the
fish gutted and threw the guts into the water. Small fish quickly attacked the
bloody mess and began playing tug of war over their prize, as they each washed
their fish in the stream. "If you guys want to start supper, I think I'll
try to find some more wood," said Katie. "Sounds good," said
John. Dropping the fish on the mat, Hailey took one end of the mat, and John
took the other, as they started up the bank, toward home.

As Hailey got the fire going, John
cut some limbs for cooking their catch, then cut the largest fish into three
pieces to reduce the weight, and make cooking easier. Even though this would be
their first night at their new hut, it already felt like home.

This area was more open than where
they had their old hut. One large tree shaded the hut most of the day, but
there was much more sun that made its way to the ground here. "I think
I'll go help Katie," said Hailey, after standing by the fire for a few
minutes. "OK," said John. "I'll watch the fish."
I'm a
lucky man
, he thought, remembering the desperation and loneliness that used
to be part of his daily life.

Once the fish were almost done
cooking, John decided to cut some fruit, so they could have a feast to
celebrate their first night at their new home. The type of fruit he was cutting
had firm flesh, much like an apple but with really thick skin. He liked to cut
them in half and eat the inside, leaving the skin. He placed each half on a
large flat rock, which they used as a makeshift table.

As the sharp edge of the knife
reached about the middle of the last piece of fruit, it went from firm, to
mushy. Before he knew what had happened, John had a deep gash in the palm of
his hand. He dropped his knife, and grabbed the wound with his other hand,
trying to stop the bleeding by applying pressure. "Son of a bitch,"
he said, in an angry tone. "That was stupid," he said, as if scolding
himself.

Caught up in the intensity of the
moment, John didn't notice that Hailey and Katie had walked up behind him with
their arms loaded with wood. "Are you OK?" asked Hailey, noticing how
John was holding his hand. "I cut myself. Could you go get the bag? I have
a first aid kit in there," said John. "How bad is it?" asked
Katie, as Hailey ran after the bag. "It's plenty deep enough for
stitches," said John.

Realizing they would need to wash the
wound, Katie got the water container. Hailey returned with the bag and started
digging through the contents, until she found the little bright orange first
aid kit. She took out some gauze and some medical tape, as Katie held the water
ready. "Let's take a look," Hailey said. They could all see the blood
on both of John's hands.

Hesitant at first, John slowly exposed
the cut. It was gapped open, but to their surprise, had already stopped
bleeding. "Oh God, that looks awful," said Katie. John held out his
hand and Katie slowly poured water over the cut, while Hailey used a small
piece of gauze to clean around it. In their past lives, this would have meant a
trip to the emergency room, but they did not have the luxury here. They looked
at the cut for a few moments, realizing they didn't have a good plan for this
situation.

"I'll squeeze it together, and
then you put some tape on it. That's as close to stitches as we can get,"
said John. Hailey carefully started on one end of the cut, which was about two
inches long, and placed four thin pieces of tape, evenly spaced apart. She then
applied tape across each end of the thin pieces, to ensure that they didn't
come loose.

Once she was satisfied with how the
tape looked, she covered it with gauze and then added more tape. "You're
going to have to be really careful with this for a while," said Hailey,
after adding the last piece of tape. "Damn that was stupid," said
John, still angry with himself.

"I'm going to go get some more water,"
said Katie, while walking toward the stream with their pot. Hailey noticed the
fish were starting to smoke a little so she went to check them. "Great,
did I burn supper too?" asked John. "It's OK, just a little black on
the outside," said Hailey. Katie soon came back with a pot of water and
positioned it over the fire, while Hailey was taking the fish from the fire,
and checking it.

They sat around the fire and prepared
to eat. Hailey started to hand a limb with a fish on it to John, then
hesitated. "I know, I'll sit next to you, and hold the fish. You can pick
off what you want with your good hand," she said, taking a place on the
right side of John. She peeled away the skin, exposing the perfectly cooked
meat inside. John reached with his left hand once, but was quickly scolded by
Hailey. "You need to keep that clean," she said. "Yes,
mother," John sarcastically retorted.

Katie sat quietly eating her fish, a
little jealous that Hailey had so quickly taken over the role of caregiver. The
odd number three was still the elephant in the room that they never talked
about: one man, and two women. Although both women had kissed John, neither had
seen the other kiss him. They were thrust into a reality that none of them were
comfortable with but each struggling with how to proceed, and none of them had
any idea what the future held. John wanted them both, and they each wanted him,
but neither Hailey nor Katie wanted to share a
man. Life was rough enough here, without being so complicated.

Hailey noticed how quiet Katie was,
and astutely realized what the problem was. "Can you take over here, while
I go to the bathroom," said Hailey, not even giving Katie time to reply,
as she handed John the stick with the fish on it, and jogged off to the other
side of the hut. Katie got up from her rock and sat next to John. She took the
stick from him and held it, as they shared what was left of the fish.

John and Katie didn't realize that
Hailey didn't have to use the bathroom. Hailey stalled long enough for Katie
and John to finish the fish, and get another, then she returned. Hailey was
confident in her emotional connection with John, but she could tell by Katie's
behavior that she was insecure about how she fit in. What she did for Katie was
a small gesture, but a truly selfless one.

"Now some fruit for
dessert," said John, shortly after they finished the last fish. "I
don't know, I'm pretty full," said Hailey. "Oh no, see this,"
said John, pointing to his wounded hand. "We're going to eat that fruit, even
if it makes us puke."

Katie handed a piece of fruit to
Hailey, then she carried a piece over to John. They finished off all of the
fruit that John had cut earlier, then the skins were thrown in the fire, along
with the cooking sticks. After a full day, and with full stomachs, they spent
most of the next few hours lounging around the fire, without saying much.

As afternoon slipped into evening,
and darkness crept in, Hailey slipped down from her rock and lay on her back, looking
up at the sky. "What are you doing?" asked John. "Just watching
the stars come out," said Hailey. John stood up, and took Katie by the
hand. "Come on, let's go watch the stars come out too," he said.

They each took a spot on the ground next
to Hailey. "I wonder which direction Earth is?" said Hailey. "I
don't know, I've wondered that myself," said John. After a long period of quietly
gazing upward, Katie said, "I know it's early, but I'm really tired. Do
you guys want to go to bed?" "Lying here is making me sleepy,"
said Hailey. "OK, I'm ready," said John.

Not sure how the sleeping arrangement
would go, John waited for Hailey and Katie to get in first. Starting out, they
were close together, in the middle of the bed. Then Hailey suggested John get
in the middle. That was what John was hoping for. "We have something to
tell you," said Katie. "What is it?" asked John. "Get in
first," Hailey prompted. John plopped down on his back. "Do you want
to tell him, or do you want me to?" Hailey asked Katie. "Go
ahead," said Katie.

"Well, you know we've been here
for a while now, and we've all agreed that it wouldn't be right to bring
children into a situation like this. There is one problem with that. Katie and
I are both late." When what Hailey said started to sink in, but not
understanding how that could be, John asked, "What do you mean you are
both late?" "We missed our periods," said Hailey, bluntly.
"You can't be pregnant.... that's impossible," John said raising his
voice slightly. "I know, it's crazy," said Katie. "We aren't one
hundred percent sure, but we are both pretty late."

John had been baffled many times
since he had been here, but this had him stumped. A thought suddenly came to him.
"I bet those bastards did this when they gave us our haircuts!" Wrapped
up with his own feelings at first, he then thought of what this meant for
Hailey and Katie. "I'm sorry, this is a heck of a lot bigger deal for you
two than it is for me," he said, trying to make up for his indulgence in
self-pity. "Maybe it just has to do with the changes we went through from the haircut," he said.

He reached for Hailey and Katie and
pulled them close, trying to be careful with his hand. They each laid their
head on his shoulder. This moment reminded John of the night he and Hailey
spent together, when Katie was missing. He was afraid, but at the same time
glad he wasn't alone. Katie, enjoying the closeness, reached her arm across
John's stomach and Hailey placed her hand on John's chest. John had fantasized
about how this first night would go, and he could see it wouldn't come close to
what he had imagined.

Being near John worked like a
sleeping pill for Hailey and Katie. Sleep came quickly for them, but for John,
the news he had received, along with his cut hand, gave him a lot to think
about. He enjoyed being able to sleep with Katie and Hailey, but tonight, being
close to them was one more distraction, making sleep impossible. It was hours
before his mind stopped going over what the future might hold.

The next morning, even though he had
the least sleep, John was up first. He had forgotten about his hand until he
saw the bandage. He tested it a few times, by making a fist, trying not to wake
the women, as he eased out of bed. Normally, starting a fire would be the first
thing he did, but they had plenty of water, so this morning, he sat quietly,
thinking. It wasn't long until Hailey joined him.

"How's your hand?" she asked.
"It isn't sore, so I guess that's good," said John. "Good,"
said Hailey. Katie soon came out of the hut, hearing the talking outside.
"How's your hand doing today?" asked Katie, as she walked up.
"Good," said John. "You better just take the day off, and let me
and Hailey do the chores," said Katie. John shook his head, as if he was
slightly annoyed.

The rest of the day, Katie and Hailey
caught fish, gathered wood, and boiled water. Without telling John, they also
took a dip in their pool. John noticed their wet clothes, when they returned home,
and asked, "What's the deal? I don't get invited to go swimming?" "You
can't get your hand wet," said Hailey. "Speaking of which, we should
probably take a look at it and to see if it is getting infected," said
Katie. "What could we do if it was?" asked John.

Hailey walked over to John and gently
took his hand in hers, turning it over to start peeling the tape off.
"Let's see," she said. Curious himself, John didn't resist as Hailey
worked at the end of the tape with her fingernail. She peeled the first piece back,
then repeated the process with the remaining pieces. Pulling the gauze back,
she exposed the cut.

"Wow, that looks pretty
good," said John. He poked at the cut with his other hand, then opened and
closed his hand with more force. Next, he punched the palm of his hand with his
clinched fist, and without any hesitation, began peeling back the tape strips that held the cut together. He tested it again.
"Holy crap! It's completely healed," said John. Hailey stood there
with her mouth open.

John remembered the time when they
discovered that they had been gone for days, without being aware of it. He
walked over to the fire pit, and held his hand just above the ashes. "It's
still warm," he said. "This is just too weird," he said, shaking
his head in disbelief. "Let me see," Katie said walking over to see
for herself. She pushed on it with her thumb. "Wow," she said softly.
"I guess you can help us catch some supper in a little while," said
Hailey.

John continued to open and close his
fist in amazement, not really listening. "We better save that gauze,"
said Katie. "Maybe we can reuse it." Carefully separating it from the
tape, Katie gathered the gauze, and took it inside the hut and put it in one of
the containers they had found at the cabin.

After catching the usual supper of
fish, they sat around the fire eating. Food was much more plentiful here than
where they used to live. John couldn't get his hand out of his mind, because he
didn't like not being able to understand something. The quickness with which
his hand had healed, had his head whirling.
Either they did something to me
last night, or they did something to me before, that caused me to heal fast,
he thought.